Fire engulfs Beijing hotel near cutting-edge TV tower
Posted: 09 February 2009 2248 hrs

	Photos  of

BEIJING: A huge blaze sparked by fireworks engulfed a hotel late on Monday in the unfinished headquarters of Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, one of the icons of Beijing's architectural rebirth, state media said.

The blaze consumed the Mandarin Oriental Hotel due to open later this year within the complex housing the future headquarters of China Central Television, the country's state television broadcaster, Xinhua news agency said.

The unfinished hotel was just a few hundred metres from the showpiece 234-metre CCTV tower designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, an AFP journalist at the scene said.

CCTV reported that the fire was brought under control by fire crews nearly four hours after it erupted.

Six firefighters and a CCTV worker were injured and admitted to hospital, Xinhua reported, adding that none of their lives were in danger.

The official news agency quoted a city government spokesman as saying initial reports indicated firecrackers set off to celebrate the Lunar New Year, China's most important annual festival, has caused the fire.

Firefighters found remnants of firecrackers on the roof of the burning building, Xinhua said.

The agency had earlier quoted a witness saying the blaze appeared to have been sparked after fireworks landed on top of the hotel building.

The fire sent flames, billowing clouds of sparks and a huge column of smoke high into the night sky over the eastern portion of the Chinese capital, drawing thousands of picture-snapping spectators.

Security forces quickly cordoned off the area as the fire raged, an AFP correspondent witnessed, preventing passers-by from gaining access to the site. Roads were closed in the surrounding area, causing massive traffic jams.

The complex's main structure has made headlines for its innovative design of two enormous towers leaning inward and linked high in the sky.

The Mandarin Oriental corporate website said the 241-room hotel was to be the group's flagship property in China and one of Beijing's most luxurious hotels.

The complex was one of several symbols of cutting-edge architecture in Beijing to rise from the ground in the run-up to the 2008 Summer Olympics.

They also include the new National Stadium at the centre of the Olympic Green, dubbed the Bird's Nest for its threads of interlocking steel beams, and the National Aquatic Centre, which features an exterior resembling bubbles of water moving over a blue box. - AFP/ir/de